Housekeeping article from 1955 (for your entertianment)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The good wife's guide:

*Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal(especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

*Prepare yourself. take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. he has just been with alot of work-weary people.

*Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

*Clear away the clutter. make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

*gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dust cloth over the table.

*Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

*Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and face(if they are small), comb their hair and, if necassary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, vacuum. try to encourage the children to be quiet.

*Be happy to see him.

*Great him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

*Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first-remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

*Make the evening his. never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relaxed.

*Yoru goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

*Don't great him with complaints and problems.

*Don't complain if he's home late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this is minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

*Make him comfortable. have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

*Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

*Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always excercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. you have no right to question him.

*A good wife always knows her place.

I think I will tie a ribbon in my hair, arrange a large cooler of ice water, get on my most beautifyl pointy-toed shoes and a beautifully decorated MB 2x4 and go whop that person upside the head - after kicking them in the shins. Then, I will revive them with the cooler of ice water and repeat the treatment.

You know, that's the same kind of treatment my x wanted. The stuff in the article. Not the shoe and stick treatment.

EEEE CHIHUAHUA!!!!!

from snopes.com:

Claim: A list of ten steps to a good marriage comes from a 1950s home economics textbook.
Status: Undetermined.

I'm not going to do that stuff no matter what the source......:p

Whoa!!! If women treated their husbands that way we would have less divorces, affairs, and less to complain about.

I was raised by a mother who would do all that, except the complaining. Well, after more than 30 years of marriage and close to 40 years together, they are still in love. But my dad is a great man. He really deserved to be treated with love and respect.

Is there one for the husbands, though? I wonder what that would say.

The trick is - your parents may have both been emotionally healthy. And they may have formed a balanced team.

Sometimes there's no way a woman can do enough to please her husband - or the other way around. You just can't please some people. Some people can't support you or be there for you no matter how much you do.

If my x had been able to see value or worth in me, he might not be my x today. It's hard to be happy to see someone who is very judgemental and doles out only judgemental or self-centered communication.

I totally agree. Many people are never happy. I believe your situation was not a healthy one. Yet, IMVHO I do believe that in a “healthy relationship,” women can as easily maintain a healthy relationship, but also can as easily destroy it. I say this because as I woman I tend to be the one to like nagging, and complaining the most. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I have a friend who would do the opposite to what that article suggests. Her house was always chaos. When her husband got home, he would not even get a look of acknowledgment. All she did was scream at the kids, scream at her husband. She would not even comb her hair. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I could only stay there for a few minutes before I couldn’t take. No matter how I approached her about it, she felt it was her "right" to do what she wanted in her house. He was a very patient man, but a person can take so much hurt, disrespect, and cruelty from someone. I was very surprise her husband lasted with her as long as he did.

After seeing this I try to keep myself in check. The way I evaluate myself in my relationship is by asking myself, if I were in my husband’s shoes, would I want to be married to someone like me? When I catch myself not taking care of how I look when my husband comes home, and nagging just to vent, etc. then my answer is NO. As long as we do our part to maintain a healthy relationship, then when a problem that is out of our control arrives, at least you will not feel guilty of not doing your part.

I don’t know much about this marriage thing, since I’ve only been married for 6 years. But I have noticed how my attitude affects my husband, and vice versa. I may have a more romantic view of marriage, and maybe it’s unrealistic. But to me, in a marriage you should be able to be the shoulder your partner can lean on. I would not try to talk to someone who always had something negative to say, but seek for someone who would be a positive influence. I believe that is the same with marriage. This of course, does not apply to an abusive relationship.

Sorry to hear about your situation. I don’t know all the details of your situation, but pray if you are still in this relationship, God may grant you the strength to see yourself in his light. Seeing yourself as someone who deserves being loved, and is very valuable, and WORTHY of a great love, and that God changes your spouse to see the true you. If you are out of this relationship, I pray you may find someone who will value you as the beautiful person your are.

<<<<HUGS>>>>

Last Thursday I announced at the office and on the D/D site that, if I weren't divorce from my x, I would double-dog-dare divorce his fat, ugly self in a heartbeat. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Even my 14yo daughter is beginning to see my x for his true self. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />


I think he wanted to marry his mother. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />